Torch control valve



United States Patent TORCH CONTROL VALVE William L. Lindgren, Sycamore,Ill., assignor to Turner Corporation, a corporation of Illinois FiledNov. 7, 1955, Ser. No. 545,333

9 Claims. (Cl. 251-223) This invention relates to a torch and, moreparticularly, to a torch construction wherein a pilot flame may beconverted to a working flame by means of a finger tip control member.

The general object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedtorch control valve.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved handtorch which is extremely simple to operate and which results in asubstantial saving of both fuel and time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved handtorch comprising a burner nozzle, a disposable fuel tank and valve meansdisposed therebetween having a conventional flame adjustment and aconvenient finger tip trigger member for converting a pilot flame to aworking flame.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide a control valvefor a torch having a burner nozzle, a fuel supply and a connectingmember disposed therebetween having a fuel passage including a valveorifice, the valve including a valve housing secured to the connectingmember, a needle valve member mounted in said valve housing and adaptedto open and close the valve orifice, the needle member having a threadedportion loosely fitted in a threaded portion of the housing so as toallow longitudinal movement of the needle member toward and away fromthe valve orifice within the play in the housing threads, resilientmeans urging the needle member towards the valve orifice, a knob on theneedle member for conventional flame adjustment and a captive leverbetween the housing and the knob adapted to be pivoted about an edge ofthe valve housing to move the needle member away from the valve orificeto the extent of the play in the threads, the lever having a portionextending alongside the fuel tank for convenient finger top control whengrasping the torch.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings,in which:

Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of a hand torchembodying this invention with the valve structure shown in verticalsection;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 2-2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 33 ofFig. 1; and Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of thethread connection between the needle member and its housing.

While the invention herein described is a preferred embodiment, it isnot intended to limit the invention to the specific form andarrangements shown, it being contemplated that various changes may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

The valve structure of the present invention is illustrated as connectedto a bottle of liquified petroleum gas, ordinarily propane. Torches ofthis variety are "ice used in many places requiring a readily portablesource of concentrated high heat. The bottles are of a size to be easilygrasped by a workman with one hand. The valve of this invention permitsthe torch to be selectively set at a pilot flame in readiness for use.When the workman needs the torch, he may pick it up in one hand, pressthe trigger or lever and instantly have a full flame emitting from thetorch.

Referring now to Fig. 1, there is shown a disposable fuel tank 1 havinga threaded fuel outlet portion 2, a Valve structure, generally indicatedat 3, which is threadably secured on the threaded portion 2 of the fueltank 1 and a burner nozzle 4 connected to the valve structure 3 througha tube 5 having a threaded portion 6 secured in the valve structure 3.

The valve structure 3 comprises a member '7 having a fuel passageextending therethrough including passages 8 and 9, a valve orifice 10formed therebetween, and a valve means 11 disposed between the fuel tank1 and the passage 9. The valve means 11 is of the type thatautomatically allows fuel to flow from the fuel tank 1 to the passage 9in the member 7 when the member 7 is positioned on the fuel tank 1 andmay comprise a conventional tire valve in the fuel tank outlet portion 2with a projecting member on the member 7 operable to depress thespring'urged core of the tire valve. Such a structure is disclosed inmore detail in applicants pending application, Serial No. 439,967,.filed June 29, 1954, now Patent No. 2,888,979.

To control the passage of fuel through the valve orifice 10, the controlvalve indicated generally at 12 is provided. The control valve 12includes a valve housing or packing nut 13 which is threadably mountedin a stepped bore 14 in the member 7 with a gasket 15 being disposedbetween the housing 13 and the member 7, the stepped bore 14communicating with the fuel passage in the member 7. The housing 13 isfixedly secured in the member 7 by driving a lock pin 16 through thehousing 13 and into a bore 17 in the member 7 intercepting the threadedportion of the housing 13, as shown in Fig. 2, and extending outwardlyfrom the housing 13.

A needle valve member 21 having a valve tip 22 adapted to close thevalve orifice 10 and a shank portion 23 is mounted in a bore 18 in thehousing 13, an O-ring 24 being disposed between the needle valve shankportion 23 and the stepped bore 14. An enlarged threaded portion 25 ofthe needle valve member 21 is loosely threaded in an internal threadedportion 26 of the housing bore 18 so as to allow longitudinal movementof the needle valve 21 toward and away from the valve orifice 10 withinthe play between the threads of the portion 25 and the housing threads26.

As viewed in the enlarged illustration of Fig. 4, the threads of thevalve member enlargement 25 have some play in the threads 26 of thehousing 13 that permit movement of the needle member 21 toward or awayfrom the valve orifice 10. Only a few thousandths of an inch of suchmovement may change the character of the flame emitting from the torchnozzle 4. Resilient means, such as a spring 28 urges the needle memberto the left hand limit permitted by the thread play, which isillustrated in exaggerated form for clarity.

The spring 28 is disposed in the housing bore 18 between the enlargedthreaded portion 25 of the needle valve member 21 and the housing 13 tourge the enlarged threaded portion 25 of the needle valve member 21against the orifice valve side of the housing threads 26 of the housing13. The play in the threads is taken up by the spring 28 urging thevalve member 21 always toward the orifice 10 tending to keep the valvemember 21 toward the closed position of the valve within the 3. limit ofmovement permitted by the play in the threads, as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The needle valve member 21 has a portion 29 extending outwardly from thehousing 13 which is adapted to receive a knurled knob 30 adapted forconventional opening and closing adjustment of the valve orifice lit byturning the knob 30. As shown in Fig. 1, the knob 30 is spaced from thehousing 13. To provide convenient and fast opening of the orifice valveit an operating member or lever 32 is provided which is loosely captivein the space defined between the housing 13 and the knob 30. As shownbest in Fig. 3, the lever 32 has a bore 33 loosely surrounding the shank23 of the needle valve 21 and a bore 34 loosely surrounding theoutwardly extending portion of the lock pin 16. Since the lever is thusimpaled on both the needle member 21 and pin 16, it can rotate aroundneither. The lever 32 has a portion 35 extending alongside the fuel tank1 adapted to provide a convenient finger tip control when a person isgrasping the torch. By moving the extending portion 35 of the lever 32towards the fuel tank 1, the lever- 32 pivots about the edge 36 of thehousing 13, as a fulcrum, so as to move the needle valve member 21 awayfrom the valve orifice 10, the threads on the enlarged portion 25 of theneedle valve member 21 being moved against the action of the spring 28from the orifice valve side of the housing threads 26 to the oppositeside of the housing threads 26. When the lever 32 is released, thespring 28 moves the needle valve member 21 back towards the valveorifice 10. Fitting the lever 32 over both the shank 23 of the needlevalve 21 and the outwardly extending portion of the lock pin 16 preventsrotation of the portion 35 of the lever 32 away from its normalconvenient operating position alongside the fuel tank 1.

For non-intermittent operation of this torch, the conventional controlknob 36 may be utilized to open the valve orifice the desired amount toprovide the desired steady flame for continuous use. If a Working flameis only intermittently required, the knob 30 is opened just enough toprovide a low or pilot flame. Then, whenever a working or full flame isdesired the operator merely actuates the lever 32 which quickly movesthe needle valve a further distance from the valve orifice 10 to providea full or working flame. Thus, a substantially large saving in fuelresults during intermittent torch operation as a result of the torchconstruction disclosed herein having a finger tip control for convertinga pilot flame to a working flame.

In a preferred form of the present invention, the fuel tank has adiameter about one-half the size illustrated in Fig. 1 with the otherparts in relative size. The movement required of the lever portion 35 isquite small and very little force is required to eflect the instantchange of the flame from a pilot tofull size. The needle member of thevalve in the preferred form need only be moved about .005 inch to effectthe change mentioned. This amount of movement may be easily provided inaloose thread between the needle valve member and housing threads.

I claim:

1. A control valve for a hand torch, comprising; a valve housing havinga fluid passage, a valve member movable in said housing and adapted toopen and close said passage, said valve member having a threaded portionloosely threaded in the housing, resilient means urging said valvemember toward said fluid passage, a knob secured to the valve member forturning the valve memher away from and toward the passage and a levermounted for moving the valve member to an extent permitted by the loosethreads to open said fluid passage from a pilot rate of flow to agreater rate of flow without turning the knob.

2. A control valve for a hand torch comprising; a valve housing having afluid passage formed therein including a valve orifice, a needle valvemember in said housing adapted to open and close said valve orifice andhaving an operating portion extending externally of the housing, saidneedle valve member having a portion loosely threaded in said housing toallow longitudinal movement of the valve member toward and away from thevalve orifice within the play of the threads, resilient means urging theneedle valve member toward the valve orifice, a knob secured to theexternal portion of the needle valve member for turning the needle valvemember to open and close the valve orifice, said knob being spaced fromthe valve housing, and operating means disposed between the housing andthe knob for opening the needle valve member to a full flow positionfrom a pilot flow position, selected by the knob setting, said operatingmeans moving the needle valve member against the resilient means andaway from the valve orifice to the extent of the play in the threads.

3. A control valve comprising; a valve housing having a fluid passage, avalve member movable in said housing to open and close said passage,said valve member having a threaded portion loosely threaded in saidhousing, resilient means urging said valve member to close said passage,means secured to said valve member for rotatably opening and closingsaid passage, and a pivotably mounted lever operably connected to saidvalve member and adapted when pivoted from its normal position about anaxis normal to the direction of movement of said valve member to shiftsaid valve member longitudinally against the action of said resilientmeans to open said passage to an extent permitted by the loose threads,

4. In a trigger operable control valve, a valve body having a fluidpassage therein and a valve seat in the passage, a valve member movablein the valve body toward and away from the valve seat in valve closingand valve opening directions, a sleeve positioned in the valve body andhaving an annular spring seat surrounding the valve member, a springbearing against the spring seat and urging the valve member in a valveclosing direction, a lock pin generally parallel to the valve memberextending through the sleeve and into the valve body for holding thesleeve in position, an abutment on the valve member outwardly of thevalve body, and a trigger lever having a midportion loosely surroundingsaid lock pin and engageable with an edge of said sleeve to pivotthereabout, one end portion manually accessible for pivoting the lever,and an opposite end portion loose on said valve member and engageablewith the abutment on the valve member to move the valve member in avalve opening direction in opposition to said spring on pivotal movementof the lever.

5. A control valve, comprising, a valve housing havlng a fluid passagetherein and a valve orifice in the fluid passage, a valve member axiallymovable in the valve housing toward and away from the valve orifice toclose and open the passage, a sleeve in the housing encircling the valvemember, said valve member having an intermediate portion looselythreaded in the sleeve by means of cooperating threads on the valvemember and in the sleeve permitting axial movement of the valve memberrelative to the sleeve, means yieldably urging the valve member in avalve closing direction, a manually accessible part on the valvememberfor threadably adjusting the valve member from a valve closedposition to a partially open position, and a trigger lever pivotallymounted on the valve housing and connected to the valve member forquickly shifting the valve member axially in a valve opening directionfrom a partially open position to a fully open position within limitsdetermined by longitudinal movement of the valve member threads in thesleeve threads.

6. A control valve, comprising, a valve housing having a fluid passagetherein and a valve orifice in the passage, a needle valve memberaxially movable in the valve housing toward and away from the valveorifice to close and open the passage, a concentric sleeve in the valvehousing encircling the valve member in spaced relation thereto andhaving an internally threaded portion, said valve member having anenlarged intermediate portion externally threaded with threads looselyfitting the sleeve threads to permit longitudinal movement of the valvemember relative to the sleeve, an annular spring seat in the sleeve nearthe outer end thereof, and a coiled compression spring in the sleeveencircling the valve member and bearing against the spring seat and theenlarged portion of the valve member to urge the valve member in a valveclosing direction, a manually accessible knob on the outer end of thevalve member for threadably adjusting the valve member in the sleevefrom a valve closed position to a partially open position, and a triggerlever pivoted on the sleeve and connected to the valve member forquickly shifting the valve member axially in opposition to said springfrom a partially open position to a fully open position within limitsdetermined by movement of the valve member threads in the sleevethreads.

7. A control valve for a hand torch or the like, comprising, a valvehousing having a fluid passage therein and a valve orifice in the fluidpassage, a valve member axially movable in the valve housing toward andaway from the valve orifice to close and open the passage, said valvehousing having means forming an internally threaded bore concentric withthe valve member, said valve member having a portion thereof externallythreaded with threads loosely fitting the threads of said bore to permita predetermined axial movement of the valve member in the bore withoutrotation of the valve member, resilient means urging the valve axiallyin the bore in a valve closing direction, a part on the valve memberengageable for rotating the same to threadably adjust the valve memberbetween a valve closed position and a partially open position, and saidresilient means being yieldable to permit quick axial movement of thevalve member from a partially open position to a fully open positionwithin limits determined by axial movement of the valve member threadsin the bore threads.

8. A control valve for use in a gas appliance to regulate the flow offuel to a point of utilization, comprising, a valve body having a fluidpassage therein and a valve seat in the fluid passage, a valve stemloosely threaded in said valve body for linear axial movement within thelimits of the looseness between the threads and for rotational axialmovement within the limits of the threaded relationship between the stemand the valve body, said stem being movable towards the valve seat in avalve closing direction and outwardly of the valve body away from thevalve seat in a valve opening direction, continuous biasing meansyieldably urging said valve stem inwardly of said valve body in a valveclosing direction, finger manipulable means co-rotatably connected tosaid valve stem to rotationally axially adjust said stem, and a triggerlever having a mid portion pivoted on said valve body on an axis normalto the valve axis, said trigger lever having one end portion operativelyconnected to said valve stem and a second manually accessible endportion movable towards the valve body to selectively linearly adjustsaid valve stem.

9. In a trigger operable control valve, a valve body having a fluidpassage therein and a valve seat in the passage, a valve member movablein the valve body toward and away from the valve seat in valve closingand valve opening directions, a sleeve positioned in the valve body andhaving an annular spring seat surrounding the valve member, a springbearing against the spring seat and urging the valve member in a valveclosing direction, a lock pin generally parallel to the valve memberextending into the valve body and contacting the sleeve so as to hold itin position, an abutment on the valve member outwardly of the valvebody, and a trigger lever having a midportion loosely surrounding saidlock pin and engageable with an edge of said sleeve to pivot thereabout,one end portion manually accessible for pivoting the lever, and anopposite end portion loose on said valve member and engageable with theabutment on the valve member to move the valve member in a valve openingdirection in opposition to said spring on pivotal movement of the lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,280,068 Moorhouse Sept. 24, 1918 1,740,602 Keeler Dec. 24, 19292,035,202 Smith Mar. 24, 1936 2,388,327 Jacobson et al. Nov. 6, 19452,655,041 Jacobsson Oct. 31, 1953 2,672,186 Smith Mar. 16, 19542,683,484 Falligant July 13, 1954 2,715,010 Reeves Aug. 9, 1955

